I feel as if I'm about to faint any second now.
The night before was exhausting, and so was the night prior to that. I haven't enjoyed much sleep this week - and the little I had stressed me with dreams of overworking myself.
I suppose I am overworked. But we all are this week.
Ten new recruits had entered into the Agency a month before. And now that they're fully trained, we're all reworking the system to ensure that their integration is without issue (all while we continue to work with our daily tasks). We would have had the entire system ready before the recruits were set to work, but with a resurfacing Villain Group prowling at our gates, we just haven't had the time to do our usual preparations.
The rookies will have to find their place in the Agency through a trial by fire.

It reminds me of the old days... when I was just a student in U.A.'s Hero Course. All those run-ins we had with The League of Villains. Even after I transferred into the Support Course, their continued threat heavily affected our work environment. By our second year, the class had to focus its efforts into prepping all of U.A.'s costumes for live-fire-use against active Villains. It was a harrowing time. But it was still relatively easy compared to this.
If I showed my past self the sort of struggles I have to go through now, pointing out that I achieve all of this without the direct help of veteran Pro Heroes - she would be very thankful for the handicap she's been given. Non-stop researching, measuring, drafting, producing, and testing as a Support was stressing enough, but to do it all off of your own budget, while managing an entire Agency and its two wings? Even my proud, independent self would abandon this towering task.
Had I never struggled with those dangerously-dire events during my time in U.A., my own trial by fire, I certainly would have never been able to manage half of what I'm responsible over now.

To my left is the Heroine Datamine. She's been rebuilding our entire communication network from scratch ever since the Villains somehow managed to hack into the last one. I have to watch over her work - instructing her to replace connections with our personnel in a specific order. Who we need to speak with sooner depends on information priority.
To my right are the Heroes Ironcoat and Checkmate. The two of them are briefing our new recruits of where they'll be headed, what to expect, and handing out the equipment they'll be wearing for their jobs. I have to double-check the expiration limits on the tools for this mission, as well as check-in on their mission objectives. Perhaps I'll even throw a speech in there while I'm at it - the rookies look like they need a little encouragement.
Behind me are the Heroes Cycloscope, Poolgrip, and the Heroine Weaponless. Cycloscope and Weaponless are currently acting as security for this room - thoroughly examining any and all visitors that come through its armored door. Poolgrip, just returned from his last job, is bickering with Cycloscope - annoyed by the intrusive inspection he was given. We would be more lenient if it weren't for the doppelganger break-in we experienced a few days ago. I'll have to set aside time for Poolgrip's report.
Adamser Felicia (or rather, 'Felicia Adamser') is waiting her turn by the entrance. As the head negotiator of our Vigilante Wing, she's likely here to report about the inquiries we have on our Freelance Boards. Once she's through security, I'll have her co-lead in a priority meeting. Even with all of the Pro Heroes and connections this Agency has under its belt, we still rely heavily on information given to us by unlicensed Heroes - they have a better eye on the state of crime than we do.
Ahead of me is a large screen - showing city buildings fly past and sink below. It's a live feed from a camera attached to the Heroine Froppy. Her job is to make contact with the Endeavor Hero Agency and act as a direct line of communication between us and their current president, the Hero Shoto. His Agency and mine are unofficial partners against crime - with his going after larger targets, and mine going for the lesser known. Since we're both after the same criminal group this time around, he's the first contact we need to get ahold of during our blackout.
And beside me are pieces to a custom FRS-locked radio. When I have time to spare, I spend it on building and adjusting this. Normally, any range of two-way radio would be quick for me to construct. But not knowing who could be listening in, from where, at this time, makes me extra wary of the transmission method. We still need to regain contact with our Mentor Wing's head, the Heroine Battle Fist - my best friend Itsuka. Though we can clearly communicate with her wing through normal channels, the fact that she's personally not answering them worries me. If I can't manage a private line with her soon, then it means another intrusion is under way.
If these concerns didn't take up enough of my time, then the large backorder of equipment should keep me well-occupied. Hatsume Mei has already given me the requested blueprints, initial test results, and four stable prototypes to work with. All that's left is for me to produce my version of them, give them to our R&D for further testing, produce a bulk order of the thrice-successful designs, give those to our equipment crew, and see what Mei has in mind for a 'returned favor'... all before tomorrow afternoon.
Oh, and of course, there's the budget meeting. Was that for today or tomorrow?

I'm running myself ragged, I know. But there's little I can do for it at this point. We're facing a major crisis with the revival of a Villain group, and we're reworking our entire system to include ten new Heroes - at the same time. Should I slack on either front, our Agency could crumble from the inside out. And that wouldn't only spell the end for us, but also for those that depend on us.
We won't let that happen.
I won't let that happen.
My whining exhaustion can wait - these responsibilities need me now.

"Don't forget you have that thing this weekend."

"Right..." I sigh.

"So don't kill yourself like this. Take a break."

"I don't think we can afford one."

"You're not the only one running this place, you know. Everyone here's completely invested in what this Agency stands for. You can trust us to take care of things here."

"You're... right. You're right." With another sigh, I hang my head in surrender and smile. "Thank you, Toru."

"Anytime." she says to me as she slaps my back.

The Heroine Invisible Girl... I forgot that she was also part of this room's security - what with her invisible nature (I wonder if she ever gets cold).

Hagakure Toru, along with Asui Tsuyu, Jiro Kyoka, Shoji Mezo, and Kendo Itsuka (all of them familiar faces from my time in U.A.) had joined me in founding my new Hero Agency after graduation. As graduated Pro Heroes themselves, they needed an organization to place their new licenses under. Any one of them could have landed jobs with larger Agencies, or gotten full sponsorship from companies with renown. To support me and my work instead - I was immensely grateful at the time, and still am to this day.

Datamine, Checkmate, Poolgrip, and Felicia were also individuals I met well before my graduation - as customers of the original company, The Hero's Price. After hearing of my plans to start an Agency of my own, they ended their contracts with their respective companies to come work for me. Their zealous loyalty towards my career's vision left me speechless. Adamser Felicia, especially, surprised me with her fervor for my work - as she was a Quirkless foreigner who (at the time) could barely speak Japanese. The fact that she, alongside others I had never met face-to-face, risked their livelihood to help my work - humbles me to no end, and drives me to press ever on.

Outside of my Agency, Hatsume Mei, Todoroki Shoto, Iida Tenya, and Komori Kinoko each continued their connections with me well after our graduation. Hatsume Mei, lead designer and co-owner of a major Support Agency in America - offers us blueprints and prototypes. Todoroki Shoto, successor of his father's position - offers us manpower and information. Iida Tenya, carrying on his family's mantle - offers us local connections. And Komori Kinoko, head of a Quirk-based drug company - offers us medicine, supplements, and snacks (mostly mushrooms).

With these people by my side, along with every new Hero that entered through our Mentor Wing - and every Vigilante that assists us through our Vigilante Wing, I can say with complete confidence that I am not alone in my endeavors.
I just tend to forget that this means I can take a break every now and then.

The weight of my tiredness crashes onto my shoulders. I suddenly feel very groggy.
I turn and raise my hand into the air - giving a signal for attention. Everyone in the room looks up to where my hand is. Seeing the gesture of my fingers, nearly all of them return to their work. Only one of them leaves their post and walks up to me.

"I'm up to speed with what we're doing. Leave it to me." the Heroine Creati tells me with a friendly salute as she takes over my position.

Pro Hero name 'Creati', civilian name... 'Akahoshi Hitomi'. A recent graduate from U.A., she was my junior by two years, and I had only gotten to know her on my last year there. Having a creation Quirk similar to my own (though hers creates objects with pure thought, at the sacrifice of memories), I mentored her and helped push the limits of her ability. She took on my former Hero-name to show her appreciation towards me - and entered into my Agency after graduation to express her loyalty.
While she may be one of the newer recruits in this Agency, her impressive track record within leadership roles tells me that she can be trusted to watch over my work.
Plus, she's the only one here (outside of myself) who can continue building my radio to Itsuka.

"Take your time. Focus on what's important." I tell the familiar phrase to Akahoshi - it's one that I had voiced repeatedly during our time as teacher and student.

She shows me a dour frown and gets to work. That's my pupil.

With a long yawn, I rub at my eyes and walk away from the monitor area - moving myself to the vending machines in the corner of the room. An oolong tea would really hit the spot.

It takes me minutes to get through the room's security, out the hall, and into the main lobby - where I could gain better reception for my phone.
I had given up on pseudo-supervising the teams that I set to work in the Command Center. Most of them shooed me away, while others deliberately ignored me since I was 'supposed to be on break'. The most I could do there without upsetting anyone was remain on standby.
But not involving myself directly with work made me anxious. So as an alternative, I decided to involve myself with someone I had full rights to supervise.
My thumb swipes to my most recent contact and readies the call.
Attempting a phone call through any non-wired service is dangerous within this state of emergency (especially when it's with a personal smartphone) - I'm well aware of this. But I have serious doubts that any Villain can use this call's (or this dummy phone's) information against myself or the Agency.
Shouldering the smartphone to my ear, I wait through the call's ringing while eating handfuls of crackers. I might be stress-eating...
The call goes through.

"Hello? He-Hello?! Ah. Back off! Hey!" the voice on the other end shouts over an avalanche of other sounds. Mostly explosions. "Sorry about that. Hello?"

"How do things look on your end?" I ask the voice, between devouring crackers.

"Oh you know. The usual. Don't think so. Stay down."

"Are you where I asked you to be? Or did you get distracted again?"

"No, no. I'm actually here. The Agency base behind the stadium, right? I have the base's leader with me right now. Well, on me. He's unconscious. Everyone else is safe - they're evacuated. Woah! Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing! Except the bad guys, of course."

"Do you need backup?"

"Nope. Have it under control. I'll be done and back before sundown."

"Come straight here after you're done."

"I know."

"No side-jobs."

"I know, I know."

"I mean it. I don't want to wait around for another two hours like yesterday. Leave those other dangers to the other Agencies. That's what they're there for."

"Okay..."

"Okay what?"

"Okay, I'll head straight back to base once I'm done here. No side-jobs. No distractions."

"Keep to that promise. If you end up overexerting yourself again, I'll give you an earful."

"Same goes for you."

"I'm on a snack break."

"That's something, I guess... But you need more than a snack break! You need to rest your head. Sleep, maybe. Fun, definitely."

"Fun? You think we can afford that?"

"Is a dinner out of the question? At that restaurant we saw yesterday."

I tap a cracker on my lip, thinking. "You're sure? We had something else planned..."

"Our date this weekend? I didn't forget about it."

"Just making sure."

"We can afford more than one date this week."

"Money, I'm sure we can afford, but affording time is different."

"Hey, we're off-duty once our shift ends. Or don't you remember that argument we had a few months ago? No work after the clock. Otherwise I'll force us to take an early vacation, again. I mean it. Besides, you're not the only one working this case. Everyone's doing their best to keep this Villain stuff under control - not just those in our Agency, but in Todoroki's too. And the police! We're all watching each other's backs - so each of us can rest when we need to. You need to take advantage of that."

I pass seconds in silence, waiting for any other additions to his speech. With nothing heard by the fifth second (outside of the sounds of shattering concrete), I reply with a slight laugh, "This is the second time I've gotten this lecture today. Toru said the same thing to me."

"Because it's the truth. Ow! That hurt! Oh - sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard... Anyways, you need to trust your crew more. There's a reason why you chose them. Let them prove their stuff."

"Says the one who keeps reserving the Agency's most difficult jobs. None of our Heroes have had the chance to test their strength in the field because of you."

"I just... want to contribute something worthwhile to the team?"

"Can I use that excuse?"

"Nope."

"Then neither can you. Come on back already - your equipment is going to expire in the next hour. I'll have them send a Hero team to take over your area."

"... Okay, okay. Just get them here quick. A lot of these guys are trying to make a run for it."

"Roger that. I'll see you back at base then."

"See you soon. I love you, Momo-honey!"

"Y-Yes... I l-love you too... Izuku... d-darling." I answer back with an awful stutter.

The call ends and I pocket my phone away.
Someone in the lobby just giggled. Who? Diamond Wing? Floss? One of the receptionists?

My face is burning. If I could, I would hide in a hole and never come out. Or at least devour another bag of mushroom crackers.
Forcing me say that sort of thing out loud... I'm aware that I had married the man over a month ago, but I'm still unused to these public shows of affection... I don't want to rub our relationship in people's faces. And I certainly have no desire for others seeing me like this. But it's not as if I can just respond to his 'I love you, honey' with 'Yeah, same'. He makes me say these things. And he teases me whenever I don't.
Holding hands... Sitting so close to one another... Kissing me on the cheek... It's all still too much for me.
I know he's only trying to show me his affection, no matter where we are. But when there's an audience to see - the habit beyond embarrassing.
I prefer to share our feelings in private...
I like it much better when there's nothing around to distract us...
I love when it's only us there.

Love...
A strong word.
The first time I had ever directed the word towards Izuku was on the same day I asked him to propose to me... The very next week, we were married. And we moved into our first apartment together - the very next day. He was flustered. I was flustered. It all happened so fast.
For me, however, I felt as if I had been holding us back for far too long.
The two of us had been dating for years, since we were 1st Years in U.A. Yet, never once during that time had I used the word 'love' to describe my relationship with him. Not in hint, nor by comparison. Not even on the day he finally braved himself to tell me that he loved me. I had only used every other affection, except 'love'.
It's not as if I held no strong feelings for him... I just had no real understanding of the word 'love' at the time. Until I honestly knew what it meant, I didn't want to claim that I felt that way towards him. I never wanted to lie to him, or lead him on falsely, with a word so supposedly 'life-changing'.
By poetic definition - in novels, movies, songs, and gossip - 'love' was an emotion, or force, that was completely intangible, yet utterly real. It was irrational, irreversible. Physical, unavoidable. Terrifying, comforting. Frail yet strong. Freeing and imprisoning. And so it had no sense of itself. And no one honestly knew what it meant.
How could people throw around the phrase 'I love you' so effortlessly then?
I couldn't - so I never did. Until only a little more than a month ago, I kept myself from saying those three words to him.
And now - I regret all the times I hadn't.

As I walk through the halls of the Agency, greeting and conversing with faces familiar to its settings, my thoughts linger back to this place's early beginnings... When it was only empty rooms and quiet corridors. When the only occupied room of the building displayed a filing cabinet, a table, laptop, printer, two chairs, and a potted plant on one side. When it was just the two of us walking in its spaces.
Izuku and I built this place up from that beginning. From the ground up.
We designed the building's layout, negotiated the loans with the bank, contacted city hall, sorted out which licenses we needed, were plagued by headaches from the paperwork and budgeting and mailing... together, in that small, barely furnished room.
Slowly, after uncountable mistakes and hardships... that hollow building with only one furnished room - was neighbored with a second room. Then a third and a fourth, and more. Then we received actual equipment, and locks on our doors. Then employees filled its spaces, and an actual sign graced our front. And newspaper listings, television commercials, and a working business line advertised who we were - what we did. We gained a parking lot, replaced a single coffee maker with an entire cafeteria, upgraded the gym room into a functioning training facility. Little by little, effort by effort, we transformed this place. We turned this nothing into something.
When I first realized that the two of us were the ones responsible for this change - I came to realize what 'love' truly meant.

The struggles we went through, the projects we built up, the arguments we held, the silences we shared, all that we had done for each other - because of each other... even through our accusations and avoidances... These all said 'I love you' - without the words, and without a comparison.
'Love', as I came to understand it, wasn't a feeling. It wasn't intangible. And it wasn't just a reaction.
It was an action. It was a promise and a result.
As some indescribable high or a concept of connection, 'love' held no weight for me. But as a tangible, measurable practice, I've been overcome by it - and now I find it all too easy to admit that I love my husband. I love him... I truly love him.
If only I could speak the words to him without that awful stutter.

"Izuku..." I whisper to the air, "I l-love you..."

Even with no one listening, the act of saying those words makes me feel shy. I know that I do love him, but... I feel so inexperienced with this affection. How can he expect me to say it out in public? How can he expect me to shout it over the phone? I'm such a child...
At least we're married now, so I'll have plenty of practice with these words. I'll get used to saying them around him... eventually. With practice. It will take time, but we have plenty of that now... We're married, after all... Married...
I'm married...
I spend so much time in a day attempting to express love in my actions and words, that I often forget that the most obvious show of it is attached to my marital status. Specifically, through my name - 'Midoriya Momo'.
A pleasant-to-say name that rolls off the tongue, and evidence that I've entrusted my future to him. I bear his family name now, and the responsibilities of his life and mine have become 'our responsibilities' because of this. Neither of us can act without the other becoming involved. And neither of us can bear a burden without sharing its weight with the other.
I am now 'the other half' of Midoriya Izuku. And he is 'the other half' of me.

Who would've known that we would end up this way?

"It's strange to actually see you on break, Momo." a voice says beside me.

I turn to face the voice with careful suspicion - though my eyes quickly grow wide in surprise.
This person knew that Izuku and I would end up this way. Along with Tsuyu and Todoroki, this person thought it was only natural for Izuku and I to deepen our relationship after that first date. Though this person was the only one who believed the relationship would last.
"Where have you been?!" I nearly shout in anger at this person - whom I'm equally furious and relieved to see, "Why are you here?!"

"Am I not supposed to be?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean- Why haven't you been answering your radio?!" I yell with frustration - while I remove a device from my belt and place it over their mouth.

"Mwomo - momm mowmm." the person sounds with a cylinder between her lips.

"Kendo Itsuka. Registered Mentor. Class S Security. On Duty." the device chimes.

I re-attach the item to my belt with a heavy sigh. Kendo Itsuka, my best friend, and the one responsible for Izuku and I's relationship. I have her to thank for reuniting us after our falling out. And her to blame for causing me to stress-eat today.
If anything happened to her...
"I've been trying to contact you for hours!" I yell at her.

Itsuka casually shrugs off my roaring and shakes her head. "The private radio in my office has been out all morning. The thing won't charge at all. So I came over here to get a replacement."

"Well-! I-! Why didn't you let me know sooner?!"

"I just got here."

"Just now? Did something happen?"

"My job happened. I had things over there to take care of first."

"You had me seriously worried... I really mean that."

"Spark told you that everything was fine on my end, didn't he?"

"He never said your radio was out."

"You want a Villain to hear that over the public frequency?"

My shoulders slouch in exhaustion. "No... I just wish you had told me sooner. With those Villains going after us-"

"We have them where we want them. Right? That was the point of our recent missions. To provoke them, remember? You need to relax. You're not the only one keeping an eye out for them. We have things under control over there too."

"This is the third time I've heard this lecture today." I grumble.

Itsuka laughs. "If you don't relax, it won't be the last time."

"That's why I'm on break."

"Then stay on break for another hour. You've probably gone over the amount of work hours you're supposed to have this week. Actually, just end your day early. We'll cover for you."

"You know I can't do that, Itsuka."

"You know you should do that, Momo. Keep this up and I'm telling your hubby to drag you on another vacation." Itsuka threatens with a friendly smile. The smile turns into a smirk. "Speaking of..." Her eyes point to an area behind me.

Entering through the automatic doors of the front lobby, a fair-sized figure - adorned with battle-scarred plates and burn-marked fabrics - smiles and waves his hand in my direction.
He's a decent-looking Hero, with impressive muscles and a strong posture, but nothing aside from that description distinguishes him from a crowd of Pro Heroes. Plain-faced and unintimidating in speech, he wears a costume designed with basic colors and patterns. Adding his simple and expected attitude towards others, he seems severely out of place in a building surfaced with marble and obsidian.
But no one here can do what he just did - single-handedly rescuing a Hero Agency from an all-out Villain assault. No one here can claim even a fraction of the deeds he's done during his time as a registered Pro Hero. And frankly, most people in Japan couldn't achieve half of what he's accomplished before he even received his license.
His appearance may be average, but he himself is unmistakeable.
The Hero Deku enters the Agency through a flood of cheers. He hands off his broken armor to a rushing assistant, politely declines an interview with a reporter, and signs a few posters passed to him, all while he continues his determined stride towards me.
He grins his signature grin - one belonging to the strongest Hero in the world - much to the delight and comfort of his fans. In my eyes, however, that smile was given only to me... to tell me that he's safe, he's home, and that he loves me...

I smile back shyly, happy to welcome him back as his wife... but determined to receive him as his acting manager.
I walk towards and around him - calling over assistants to look over his wounds, signalling security to discourage crowding on the main floor, and asking reporters to wait by the designated press areas. Hidden to everyone else's eyes, I slide my hand across his waist - letting him know that I'm worried over his recent scars, but very glad to have him back with me.
He reaches for my waist as a response, but I quickly slide away from his hand professionally.
As far as I can tell, we're still on the clock. And there's still so much work to be done. The public display of romance can wait for later.
Right now, I have to tend to this place's functions and commit to my duties... Whenever he's here - I always take these responsibilities seriously. It's one of the ways that I can show him that 'I love you', after all.

Izuku soon vanishes into the crowd of working personnel, while I melt my way into the mass of public relations. Even apart, we return to our roles as uncompromising partners - committed to protecting those who need help the most...

Together, we run The Hero's Rescue Agency - the only Agency in the world designated to save Heroes.